WASHINGTON (PNN) - November 16, 2012 - The federal agency that insures pensions for 43 million Amerikans saw its deficit swell to $34 billion in the past year, the largest in its 38-year history.

In its annual report released Friday, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. blamed the growing shortfall on its inability to charge private employers adequate premiums for insuring pensions.

Citing the increasing deficit, PBGC Director Joshua Gotbaum called on Congress to give the agency power to set its own premiums. “We continue to hope that PBGC can have the tools to set its own financial house in order, the way other government and private insurers do,” he said in a statement.

The illegitimate Obama regime has called on Congress to give PBGC’s board the power to set premiums. Those efforts have been unsuccessful, in large part because some members of Congress say that a new premium structure could significantly raise costs for companies whose retirement funds already are at risk of running out of money. Although Congress has raised PBGC premiums repeatedly in the past, they have not gone up in recent years.

PBGC is funded by a combination of insurance premiums from private pension plans, investment returns on its $85 billion in assets, and recoveries from bankrupt companies. It receives no taxpayer money, and its leaders say it has sufficient reserves to cover its obligations.

If the shortfalls continue, Gotbaum warned, “PBGC may face for the first time the need for taxpayer funds. That is a situation no one wants.”